Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of initial processing of natural rubber and its machinery, and more particularly to a method of aging (drying) natural rubber which employs an automate machinery for mass production to produce high grading natural rubber products with reduced energy consumption and shortened time period.
Description of Related Arts
Rubber is a key industrial raw material which leads to the fast-growing development of synthetic rubber. However, while natural rubber has several characteristics which are not replaceable by synthetic rubber, the technological development of initial processing of natural rubber fails to keep pace with the present needs. It is worth mentioning that the physical properties of synthetic rubber can never match that of natural rubber.
Nowadays, natural rubber mainly originates from Southeast Asia and southern China. Technological research and development, which is led by western developed countries, merely concentrate on application of natural rubber or on synthetic rubber and fail to put focus on the machineries and technologies for initial processing of natural raw rubber. Accordingly, the overall technological development of initial processing of natural raw rubber is not up-to-date in view of the contemporary technological development. It is worth mentioning that natural raw rubber is a completely amorphous polymer which is highly valuable for a vast variety of potential useful applications, which may not be met by using synthetic rubber. Therefore, there is an urgent need to advance the technological development for initial processing of natural rubber.
Conventional natural rubber initial processing has several major drawbacks. First, it fails to produce high quality rubber materials efficiently and satisfactorily. Second, it fails to provide even and thorough drying or aging for the rubber. Third, it fails to provide sufficiently high level of drying for the rubber. Fourth, it doesn't fit for automate processing. Fifth, it requires a relatively long time period to complete the process. Sixth, the shape and size of final products are restrictive, owing to the limitation of large surface area to volume ratio requirement and the corresponding energy consumption. Seventh, if shape and size of final products of small surface area to volume ration is desired, the energy consumption is great and a large volume of pollutants are emitted, which is highly environmentally unfriendly.